THE WEDNESDAY MORNING LONDON WALKS |
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THE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON LONDON WALKS |
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THE WEDNESDAY EVENING LONDON WALKS |
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THE "SPECIALS" – LONDON WALKS ON SELECTED WEDNESDAYS |
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THIS IS LONDON The Flash Bang Highlights Tour! 10.30 am on Wednesdays not Dec. 25 or Jan. 1
from Westminster Tube exit 4
Whoa! Here it is. The all-in-one London Walk. It's The Grand Tour. London's Yellow Brick Road. So hey ho off we go – off to see all the classic sights in Westminster and the West End. Tick 'em off: Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, our loveliest Royal Park (it's the quintessential Royal Park!), 500-year-old St. James's Palace, classy St. James's (and clubland, of course), Trafalgar Square, Admiralty Arch, Birdcage Walk, Queen Anne's Gate, you name it. They're all here: all the London pearls. And here's the clincher: Tom and Fiona have strung them together with quaint little back streets and alleys that give you the real essence of London! And, yes – mais oui! – the walk is timed so we take in the Changing of the Guard (when it's on).
This Is London – The Flash Bang Highlights Tour
takes place every* Wednesday morning at 10.30 am
and every** Sunday morning at 10.30 am
*except Dec. 25 and Jan. 1
Meet Tom or Fiona just outside exit 4 of WestminsterTube.
WestminsterTube is on
the Circle, District & Jubilee Lines.
 Guided by Tom or Fiona
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THE TOWER OF LONDON "the most important mediaeval fortress in Europe"
11 am on Wednesdays not Dec. 25 or Jan. 1
from Tower HillTube
In the beginning William – the bastard – created the Tower. And, yes, the biblical echo is deliberate. That's how important the Tower is. Crown jewels, battlements, Traitor's Gate, the executioner's block, armour, centuries-old ceremonies, the stage on which so much of our history climaxed: the question isn't whether you'll go to the Tower – the question is whether you'll go First Class. And let's tell it like it is. First Class isn't tacky and touristy. It isn't wandering aimlessly. What it is is seeing the Tower with a great guide. Because that thrilling, chilling past is still there – sighs run in blood down Tower walls – but you have to know where to look. And how to look. Go First Class – go in there with London Walks and a world class guide* (and these two are) and you'll come out exclaiming, "that's the best upgrade on the planet!"
Here's a soundbite. It's Tom introducing the Bloody Tower. It's just a couple of minutes long but it's salient point after salient point. History, architecture, engineering, biography, military science, geography, etc. What's so exciting about it is the way he makes you see both the past – "Ann Boleyn and Catherine Howard will have walked right here" – and the particulars, details that you wouldn't have seen on your own, let alone clock their significance. E.G., the width of the arch for its time, the iron boat hoop, the way the entryway narrows (in order to funnel attackers into a killing zone), the portcullis, etc.
Guided by Tom or Brian. *An "upgrade" because if you go with London Walks you'll get a huge discount on the Tower admission price and we get you VIP admission. There's no shuffling along in a goes-on-forever ticket queue. Go Economy Class you pay more, you get less and you could queue for half an hour or more. Some Economy. And that's by way of saying, there is of course an admission charge to visit the Tower, but we get you a huge discount.
The Tower of London Tour takes place
every* Sunday at 11 am
and every** Wednesday at 11 am
*except April 13
**except Dec. 25 and Jan. 1
Meet Brian, Tom or Judy just outside the exit
of Tower HillTube
Tower HillTube is on
the Circle & District Lines
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SHAKESPEARE'S & DICKENS' LONDON - The Old City11 am on Wednesdays not Dec. 25
from St. Paul'sTube exit 2
London was to Shakespeare and Dickens what Paris was to Balzac. It held them in its thrall, was both their canvas and their inspiration, their workshop and their raw material. They in turn made it their own, imaginatively colonising it. And, like "special correspondents for posterity", bequeathed it to us. Today, despite the ravages of time, riot, bombing, and especially fire, traces of their London – shipwrecks from the past – still abound in the City. Everything from superb half-timbered Elizabethan dwellings to the magnificent early 16th-century gatehouse where Shakespeare went with his plays to the offices of the Elizabethan Master of the Revels. And from London's grandest Tudor manor house to crooked little alleys which fed the fires of Dickens's "hallucinating genius".
Shakespeare's and Dickens' London The Old City
takes place every* Wednesday morning
and every Sunday afternoon
*except Dec. 25
Guided by Andy or Corinna (on Wednesdays)
Guided by David (on Sundays)
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LEGAL & ILLEGAL LONDON - The Inns of Court11 am on Wednesdays not Dec. 25 or Jan. 1
from HolbornTube
The Inns of Court – habitat of the wigged and gowned English barrister – could pass for a collection of Oxford and Cambridge colleges right in the heart of London. They're a warren of cloisters, courtyards, and passageways set amongst some of the best gardens in London. So: ancient rites and customs, high drama, colourful characters, and matters of life and death amid delightful surroundings. It's a rich confection, making this the prettiest and most historical of our central London walks. Now as for what you'll see – well, this brief photo essay will give you a taste.
LEGAL & ILLEGAL LONDON – The Inns of Court walk takes place
every* Wednesday morning at 11 am
every Friday afternoon at 2 pm
and every Monday afternoon at 2 pm
*except Dec. 25 and Jan. 1
The meeting point is just outside the main exit of HolbornTube
Guided on Wednesdays by Molly
Middle Temple Hall by Gaslight, December 2004
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"I summon up remembrance of things past..."
William Shakespeare
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11 am on Wednesdays not Dec. 25
from Warwick AvenueTube
If you fancy something completely different, this is the walk for you. Little Venice is the prettiest and most romantic spot in town. A unique combination of white stucco, greenery, and water, it boasts the finest early Victorian domestic architecture in London; a Who's Who of famous residents (Robert Browning, Edward Fox, Joan Collins, Annie Lennox, and Sigmund Freud to name but a few); and a jewel of a "village" street. And that's not to mention its canals. One of them – Regent's Canal – is known as the "loveliest inland waterway in England". Part of the walk is along the canal towpath – which to this day is studded with fragments of evidence that bring the Age of Canals to life. And afterwards you can have tea – or a bite to eat – at a stylish canal-side cafe. And why not lend an ear?  Which is by way of saying, here's a bit of audio from this walk. It's Shaughan in all his full-throated – let alone multi-charactered – glory!
The Little Venice Walk takes place
every* Wednesday at 11 am
every Saturday at 2 pm
and every Sunday at 2 pm
*except Dec. 25
Meet Peter or Richard III just outside the exit
of Warwick AvenueTube.
Warwick AvenueTube is on
theBakerloo Line
Guided on Wednesdays by Peter or Richard III
Guided Saturdays and Sundays by Shaughan
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THE OLD JEWISH QUARTER "a shtetl called Whitechapel"10.45 am on Wednesdays not Dec. 25 or Jan. 1
from Tower HillTube
This walk traces the history of London's Jewish community in the East End. It's a story that embraces the poverty of the pogrom refugees and the glittering success of the Rothschilds; the eloquence of the 19th-century Prime Minister Disraeli and the spiel of the Petticoat Lane stallholder; the poetry of Isaac Rosenberg and the poetry-in-motion of Abe Saperstein's Harlem Globetrotters. Set amid the alleys and back streets of colourful Spitalfields and Whitechapel, it's a tale of synagogues and sweatshops, Sephardim and soup kitchens. Read more... (And on that note, it's time for a joke.) And now it's time for Jon's fine little video trailer of the walk. A click here and you're there. And here's the Jewish Chronicle's review of the walk.
The Old Jewish Quarter Walk takes place:
every* Wednesday at 10.45 am
every Friday at 10.45 am
and every** Sunday at 10.15 am
*except Dec. 25 and Jan. 1
**except Marathon Sunday (April 13, 2014)
Meet Steve or Harry or Shaughan or Judy just outside
the exit of Tower HillTube.
Tower HillTube is on
Circle & District Lines
N.B. Whenever possible we visit the wonderful Old Synagogue,
for which there's a small entrance fee.
Guided on Wednesdays by Shaughan or Steve
Guided on Fridays by Harry or Steve
Guided on Sundays by Judy or Shaughan
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"It is numbered with our Jewish towns"
"The piece of London which I hold in my heart is a part I have never lived in - Whitechapel. But it's the real East End, where my Jewish great-grandfather came to live, in Goodmans Fields, in the 1860s. So much of the Jewish culture I absorbed came from this area - small shopkeepers, kosher chickens on a slab, salt beef sandwiches from... Blooms Restaurant, little synagogues in small streets like Princelet Street - and lively street markets with witty stall holders shouting their wares with flair and cunning. The dirty blocks of apartment buildings, all stairs and washing lines, Brick Lane, Leman Street, Black Lion Yard - these are the streets of my family history...I grew up in Oxford - quite another feel to that place - but the emotional heart of London for me is the gritty, warm-hearted East End."
Miriam Margolyes
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CHELSEA – London's Ancient Riverside Village1.45 pm on Wednesdays not Dec. 25 or Jan. 1
from Sloane SquareTube
Ah, Chelsea! Let's start with one of the great set-pieces of London architecture and history: Wren's Royal Hospital. Setting foot in there you cross a threshold into another era. Because the "pensioners" – old soldiers – are Redcoats! They're resplendent in the 300-year-old scarlet uniform that was the garb of the British soldier in the 17th-century! As old as the cannon that guard the place. And that's just the overture. Because Chelsea is also Whistler's Thames – best seen in the afternoon with the sun like a blob of melted butter burnishing the luminous water. And it's Sir Laurence Olivier's house (and Oscar Wilde's "Tower of Ivory" and Mick Jagger's house and Thomas Carlyle's). Yup, these gnarled old village lanes and byways are as clamorous with great names as rooks in a wood. And the pageantry of the place continues to unfurl – because Chelsea is also artists' studios and the old Apothecary Garden that changed the course of American history (on Wednesday afternoons it's normally open to the public!) and Sir Thomas More's church and Crosby Hall (historical frissons don't come any more intense – because Crosby Hall was built nearly 20 years before Columbus discovered the new world – and Richard III was staying in it when he heard the "sad" news about the little Princes in the Tower). Finally, here's a little photo essay. Goes some way towards answering the question: what will I see on this walk?
The Chelsea – London's Ancient Riverside Village walk takes place
every* Wednesday afternoon at 1.45 pm
*except Dec. 25 and Jan. 1
Meet Brian or Stephanie just outside the exit of
Sloane SquareTube.
Sloane SquareTube is on
theCircle & District Lines
Guided by Brian or Stephanie
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Graveyard & the House of the Most Famous Living English Actress |
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2 pm on Wednesdays not Dec. 25 or Jan. 1
from HolbornTube
The British Museum is the big one. The most important museum on the planet. It's an incomparably rich treasure-chest, brimming with things of world historical importance. The Rosetta Stone, the Egyptian antiquities and mummies, the Parthenon Sculptures, the Black Obelisk, the Enlightenment Gallery, 4,500-year-old "Ginger" (the "pre-dynastic" red head!), the Sutton Hoo treasure, the Portland Vase, Roman gold, Celtic gold, ivories and enamels, tiles and pottery, an astonishing display of instruments for measuring time... Here, under one roof, is civilisation, manifest. Here the past turns on its pivots to face the 21st century. The snag is that you can't see for looking...both because of the embarrassment of riches and the sheer size of the place (the building covers 13.5 acres - set off in the wrong direction and you have to walk three times too far). Indeed, how you see it is almost as important as what you see. "The best commentary on the revolution of Greek art and the quality of its achievement is...simply to come direct to the Elgin room from the Egyptian and Assyrian ones, as if into an explosion of life, even, as in the frieze, of gaiety." Which is by way of saying, to see these things with a great guide...well, you'll never be quite the same again. In short, the secret is to use your time at the British Museum well.
And on that note, methinks it's time to garnish the words, words, words with a little photo essay. Open sesame by clicking here. The British Museum tour takes place:
every* Wednesday afternoon at 2 pm
every Saturday afternoon at 2 pm
and every Monday afternoon at 2.15 pm
*except Dec. 25 and Jan. 1
The meeting point is just outside the main exit of HolbornTube
photo by Jon Block
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"When it's three o'clock in New York,
it's still 1938 in London."
Bette Midler
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THE BEATLES MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR 2 pm on Wednesdays not in Dec. or Jan. 8, Jan. 15, Jan. 22, Jan. 29
from Tottenham Court RoadTube
(meet outside exit 3, by the Dominion Theatre)
Guided by "the pied piper of Beatlemania" (so let me introduce you to the one and only Richard P.), this is a chance to Imagine Beatlemania and the Swinging 60s. It's a Magical Mystery Tour of the Beatles" London haunts: their Apple offices, where they played the famous rooftop session Paul McCartney's headquarters; and the world famous Abbey Road Studios and the Abbey Road crosswalk. Richard P., recaptures the era when London was the cultural capital of the world and the "Fab Four" were its rulers.  Here's a "grab" from the walk. And if you'd like to know something about where you'll be meeting Richard, well, simply click me!
The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour takes place
every* Wednesday at 2 pm
every Thursday at 11 am
and every Sunday at 10.55 am
*Except in Dec. and Jan. 8, Jan. 15, Jan. 22, Jan 29
Meet Richard just outside exit 3 – the Dominion Theatre exit –
of Tottenham Court RoadTube.
Tottenham Court RoadTube is on
the Central & Northern Lines
N.B. We make a short tube journey to Abbey Road,
so getting a "ticket to ride" – a 2-Zone Travel Card* –
is a good idea. *Or an Oyster Card.
Guided by Richard P
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THE LONDON WALK - St. Paul's to the Tower of London
2.15 pm on Wednesdays
from St. Paul'sTube exit 2
This is the City of London Grand Tour. It gives you a stunning overview: from St. Paul's Cathedral to the Tower of London. You can't do better than that for a jumping off point and a final destination. But – whisper it – the getting there is the real fun, because we explore twisty little alleyways and piquant nooks and crannies and a secret stretch of shoreline that'll give you a thrilling view across the river to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern. Seeing this London is like hearing music you never would have known to listen for. Like this music!
For an outsider's delightful (and delighted) take on the walk – and on Tom – click here. It's a long excerpt from Mark Mason's wonderful new book, The Importance of Being Trivial. It's from the chapter in the book that focusses on this walk (and on Tom).
The London Walk – St. Paul's to the Tower of London takes place
every Wednesday afternoon at 2.15 pm from St. Paul'sTube, exit 2
Guided by Tom or Fiona
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THE OLD PALACE QUARTER "They don't make them like this anymore"Hidden Courtyards, Secret Passageways & Antique Arcades
2.30 pm on Wednesdays not Dec. 25 or Jan. 1
from Green ParkTube Green Park exit (meet in the park, by the fountain)
"I'd put this one in the top four or five of the 51 different walks that I'm personally able to guide. It's got everything I want in a walk." (David). Okay, that's the "opinion" - here's what it's based on. 1) It's olde, vintage London. There are turnoffs - secret passageways - that take you into the 16th century. And the 18th century is par for the course. And it's so well preserved it's a miracle the whole neighbourhood hasn't been sold off to a museum! 2) So, as you'd expect, visually it's very appealing. 3) It's storied. It's storied because it's full of character, full of characters, and marinated in history. 4) It's nooked and crannied. Why is that important? "Well maybe it's just me, but I like to see things other people don't get to see" (David again). 5) It's got a wonderful guide. Her name is Angela. (Here's Angela weaving her spell – in short, here's some audio. Notice her timing, her modulation, her poise – in short, that wonderful voice and what she does with it. And here's a short piece she's written about the walk. It's also definitely – DEFINITELY – worth a click.) And as for Après Walk...
Here's some more about this walk...
The Old Palace Quarter walk takes place:
every* Wednesday at 2.30 pm
*except Dec. 25 and Jan. 1
Meet Angela just outside the Green Park exit (by the fountain)
of Green ParkTube.
Green ParkTube is on
theJubilee, Piccadilly & Victoria Lines
 Guided on Wednesdays by Angela
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ROCK 'N' ROLL LONDON – The Pub Walk 7 pm on Wednesdays not Dec. 25 or in Jan.
from Tottenham Court RoadTube, exit 3
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon... It's all abooooarrrd this night's train for Rock 'n' Roll & Booze. Headin' to their haunts and their hangouts. Where they riffed and let rip, these men of wealth and taste. Please allow me to introduce The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, David Bowie, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Blur, Oasis... It's a Who's Who of the music. A Who's Who of the music strung along a London trail cuz each act has a London tale to tell. Very often a tale so decadent – so down and dirty – that Caligula himself would blush!* Guided by Adam, Richard P. or Rex *With thanks to Morrissey! Oh and do check this out, it's a fun little film (looks good, sounds good) Adam's made for the walk.
Rock 'n' Roll London – The Pub Walk takes place
*except Dec. 25 and in Jan.
Meet Adam or Rex or Richard P. just outside exit 3 of
Tottenham Court Road Tube.
Tottenham Court RoadTube is on the
Central & Northern Lines
 Guided by Adam or Rex or Richard P.
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"Then one day walking round Tavistock Square I made up,
as I sometimes make up my books, To the Lighthouse,
in a great, apparently involuntary rush."
Virginia Woolf, Moments of Being
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GHOSTS, GASLIGHT & GUINNESS
7.30 pm on Wednesdays not Dec. 25
from HolbornTube
This is the most haunted city on earth: unutterably old, built over a fen of undisclosed horrors, believed to contain occult lines of geometry. A city where the very mist is like a sigh from a graveyard. Now I don't want to weird you out, but where we're going tonight time past and time present can fuse – especially when the daylight bleeds away. If in a dark window you see an even darker silhouette staring back, or if the branches of a tree suddenly shiver like a spider's web that's caught something, or if you follow a stranger into a graveyard (or a pub where everything isn't as it seems) – you could well be wayfaring to the rebecks of eternity. Fancy a pint?
The Ghosts, Gaslight & Guinness Walk takes place
every* Wednesday evening at 7.30 pm from HolbornTube
*except Dec. 25
Guided by Richard III
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"When my great, great, great grandfather, John Johnson, was Lord Mayor of London in 1845, London was the largest city in the world...with nearly two million inhabitants but still no basic sanitation. I'd rather have lived 2,000 years ago in Londinium. At least they had baths!" Actor and London Walks guide, Richard III
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7.30 pm Every Evening*
from Tower HillTube
He came silently out of the midnight shadows of August 31, 1888. Watching. Stalking. Butchering raddled, drink-sodden East End prostitutes. Leaving a trail of blood that led...nowhere. Yes, something wicked this way walked, for this is the Ripper's slashing grounds. We evoke that autumn of gaslight and fog, of menacing shadows and stealthy footsteps as we inspect the murder sites, sift through the evidence - in all its gory detail - and get to grips, so to speak, with the main suspects. Afterward we can steady our nerves in The Ten Bells, the pub where the victims - perhaps under the steely gaze of the Ripper himself - tried to forget the waking nightmare. And for a pictorial or two, click here. And for a fine little video trailer of the walk, click here.
And this is pretty neat: Adam's made a handy little video to help out anybody who's arrived late for the walk. It's called The Jack the Ripper Catch Up Film. If you arrive late and the walk's moved off, well, just get your cell phone out, bring up this page and click here and hey presto you'll be able to catch us up.
The Jack the Ripper Tour takes place every* single night at 7:30 pm.
And every Saturday afternoon - at 3 pm - there's also a Ripper "matinee". I.E., the Jack the Ripper Walk also takes place every* Saturday afternoon at 3 pm.
Meet the guide just outside the exit of Tower HillTube.
Tower HillTube is on
theCircle & District Lines
*Except December 24th and December 25th
Guided on Wednesday evenings at 7.30 pm by Steve
Guided Thursday evenings at 7.30 pm by Shaughan & Adam
Guided Friday evenings at 7.30 pm by Donald or Shaughan
Guided on Saturday afternoons at 3 pm by Fiona or Peter
Guided on Saturday evenings at 7.30 pm by Steve
Guided on Sunday evenings at 7.30 pm by Donald
Guided on Monday evenings at 7.30 pm by Molly
Guided on Tuesday evenings at 7.30 pm by Molly
N.B., Let's call a spade a spade. Going on Donald Rumbelow's walk is as close as you're going to get to nailing the Ripper. Donald is the author of the best-selling The Complete Jack the Ripper, the definitive book on the subject. He's been the chief consultant for every major television and film treatment of the Ripper for the last 20 years. In the words of The Jack to Ripper A to Z (the bible of Ripperology studies): "Donald Rumbelow is internationally recognised as the leading authority on the subject". The former Curator of the City of London Police Crime Museum and a two-time Chairman of the Crime Writers" Association, Donald is Britain's most distinguished crime historian. And I hasten add, he's not some dry-as-dust academic. He spent 25 years on the City of London Police Force - which in effect means you'll be taken over some of the most famous crime scenes in the world by a law enforcement professional...who just happens to be the world's leading expert on those particular crime scenes! Oh and I almost forgot – he's also a top-flight professionally qualified Blue Badge Guide!
But a word of warning: never part with your money or set off with anyone until you're absolutely certain you're with Donald or - if it's another night - one of his London Walks colleagues. Donald (and co.) will be holding up copies of the distinctive white London Walks leaflet. And remember, Donald and his colleagues never ever start the Jack the Ripper walk before 7:30pm. In short, don't let anyone pull a fast one on you.
Please tread carefully and keep away from the shadows – you are about to enter the abyss... |
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SPECIAL TOURS ON SELECTED WEDNESDAYS |
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